Rising Menu Prices Have More Americans Dining In

Vericast’s just-released 2024 Restaurant TrendWatch report shows 60% of consumers surveyed will “trade down” from a casual dining restaurant to fast food for less expensive burger prices. The same goes for other fan favorites – pizza and tacos – with 55% of respondents switching to frozen pizza from the grocery store versus pizza from a restaurant, and 55% opting to get fast food tacos instead of fast casual dining.

“The steadily increasing cost of dining out is testing the limits of what consumers can and will spend,” said Dana Baggett, Executive Director  at the Restaurant Division of Vericast, a marketing technology company. “There’s a noticeable decrease in consumers dining out, especially with consumers that have a household income under $75,000. Many diners are choosing to dine out less, trade down to less-expensive restaurants, order less or opt to eat out for more affordable mealtimes like breakfast or snacks.”

Also of note: 67% of respondents say the increased costs are making restaurant dining too expensive. The uptick from 64% in last year’s survey shows cost concerns are still climbing.

Click here for more from the report.